An Open Letter to Troy Davis following the Supreme Court Decision

By Gautam Narula

October 15, 2008

Dear Mr. Troy Davis,

When I came home from school yesterday, the first thing I did was ask my father if the U.S. Supreme Court had made a decision the case. When he said he didn’t know, I immediately raced to my computer and checked on the internet. When I saw the decision, my heart seemed to have frozen; something didn’t seem to be right- surely there must be some mistake. I went on to my email account, and to my horror my mother confirmed it in an email- the highest court in the land, the same court that had ruled on Brown vs. Board of Education, the same court that was to uphold justice in the first true democratic republic in the world, could not see that there was even the slightest chance that you were innocent, even the slightest chance that maybe Georgia was wrong. I immediately sent a message to my friend Sahil telling him the news. Even as I write this, I am still in shock. But don’t think that I have given up. I submitted a letter to the editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I signed Amnesty International’s new petition to the Georgia Board of Paroles; I have also told many of my friends, and two days ago I gave a speech on why the death penalty should be abolished. I haven’t given up hope, because I know the truth- I know that you did not beat a homeless man, and you did not murder a police officer.

I have also been reading the books you sent me whenever I have the time. I do not know in what direction my spiritual journey will take me; whether it will lead to Christianity, like you, to Buddhism, like my namesake, Siddhartha Gautama, to Hinduism, like my ancestors, or perhaps to some other religion. In my world history class, we learned how the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great took the powerful city of Babylon without any bloodshed; I was amazed to find out that, according to the books that you gave me, the Bible predicted this event. I am still young and have much to learn, but the books you have sent me and the things you have told me will help me find the right path.

I just want you to remember not to despair, no matter how hopeless the situation is. You have empowered the minds of hundreds of thousands of people; you have changed me completely; less than two months ago, I was more or less unaware of the injustices in the world, of the travesties that exist within our very own country, of the struggles that every single Troy Davis around the world has to face. I am no longer content to sit and be ignorant of injustice, or apathetic, or to watch others fight it. I am longer content to be on the sidelines while there are lives to be saved and people to be helped. I am no longer content to be the person I used to be. I was not a bad person, but thanks to you, I am now a much better person. I know that you have impacted many others in the same way you have impacted me.

In spite of all that has happened, I still believe you will be saved. I don’t believe that God, fate, destiny, or whatever one wants to call it would put you so close to death multiple times just for it to all end here. Not all the doors are closed, and as long as there is a possibility, I am not afraid to believe. I will take that fishing trip that you promised me, Mr. Davis. As a vegetarian, I’ll just be watching though ;).
I remember that you told me that you were not afraid right before your execution because God had taken away all your fear, and He had lifted the burden off of you. Well, remember, should the unthinkable happen, the ones who did this to you will one day have to face the consequences of what they’ve done. The one who is the real killer will one day have to come to terms with what he has done. He is the real prisoner. He will have to live with the fact that he has hurt a great many people. As you said, they can imprison your body, but not your spirit. Similarly, his body may be free, but his spirit will never be.

“They” by Gautam Narula

They said no, they said he did the crime,

They said go, finish him off this time.

They locked him up, they put him away,

They said yup, we’ll kill him one day.

When his family came, when they started to cry,

To them it was the same, they didn’t bat an eye

September 23rd, it was supposed to be the end

But God had heard, he helped his friend.

October 14th, we’re back to square one,

But they don’t realize, they still haven’t won.

As long as they kill, as long as people die,

No they never will, never will understand why.

They won’t know, why he is still strong,

They’ll say no, this must be wrong!

How can he be happy, how can he laugh as well?

He should be unhappy, locked in his cell!

But while they kill, and while they destroy,

They will never be half the man whose name is Troy.

Gautam Narula, 15

Reflections on Troy Davis, the Death Penalty,
and Justice

By Gautam Narula

Note: All the information below has been found either through my own research, my personal accounts, or from the accounts of others

You’ve Got Mail

In the prison, the prisoners are allowed to use the computer a few times a week; however, the majority of prisoners, including Troy Davis, do not know how to use a computer. As for snail mail, the prison screens through all the mail, and anything they don’t like, they keep.

 A Penny Saved…

 To save costs, the prison only has a cook on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Thus, prisoners often eat pre-made food like Ramen Noodles on the remaining days. Many of them have high cholesterol or hypertension because of the unhealthy diet.

In order to save on heating costs in the winter, only the gallery is heated, meaning that the prisoners in the cells often contract pneumonia or a cold during the winter. Moreover, they are required to pay 5 dollars to visit the doctor, and many of them don’t have families who are able to give them money. For those that do, the prison takes a cut of all the money that is sent to the prisoners.

What’s up doc?

The doctors who perform the executions have more or less sold their souls and their integrity. Part of the Hippocratic oath, which almost all doctors take, states that “I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone”, and it is a de facto expectation that doctors do not participate in state sanctioned executions. This also violates the American Medical Association’s code of ethics. These doctors sell their souls for 18,000 dollars to destroy the soul of another. I guess that’s justice for you.

An Inconvenient Truth…

Our system of crime and justice isn’t working. Why is it that the United States has by far the highest violent crime rate of any developed nation?  We have a homicide rate of 5.5 per 100,000 people, compared to 1.9 in Canada, our next door neighbor. France has a homicide rate if 1.6 per 100,000, the U.K. 1.4, Germany and Norway 1.0, and 0.9 in Ireland. Clearly, we are doing something wrong. There is much more here than just grabbing criminals and throwing them in jail. Take the following scenario: A man robbed a store and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. When he finishes his sentence he is truly reformed. He tries to get a job, but since he is an ex-convict, no one will hire him. Thus, he is forced to go back to a life of crime. While hypothetical, this scenario is all too common. We as a nation need to open our eyes. We can’t keep hiding to the injustices of our nation and of the world. I am not talking just about the prison system; I am talking about torture, about Guantanamo Bay, about the corruption and greed in our government and society, about the consolidation of power and wealth by the rich at the expense of the middle class and poor, about the racism that we pretend isn’t there, even about the way treat the environment.

Money in the bank

Imagine what its like to be in prison for half of your life, isolated from you family and the ones who love you. Imagine that you can only speak to them a few times a day. Troy Davis can only make a few phone calls a day, and in 15 minute segments. Moreover, if he is caught talking to the media, they will revoke his phone privileges. The phone calls are monitored, and if they hear something they don’t like, they cut the phone off.  The prison charges an exorbitant amount for the calls, somewhere along the lines of several dollars for a 15 minute call. Not only do they isolate the prisoners from their families, they profit from it. Welcome to America.

Happy Birthday to You…

There are no celebrations for birthdays. Actually, there are celebrations. When a prisoner is executed, the guards have a barbeque party. There’s nothing like a death to get out the party hats.

No Grass, No Glory

The prison is situated in a beautiful area. The small hills surrounding the prison are lush and full of beautiful trees. There is small pond, and if you look closely enough you can see white ducks gently floating on the water. A small, quaint looking house can be seen overlooking the pond. But the prisoners never get to see the outdoors. When Reverend Al Sharpton visited Troy Davis, Troy was taken outside; when he got outside, he knelt down and started feeling the grass, because he hadn’t felt it in such a long time.

In God We Trust

When I spoke to Troy Davis, it was inspiring to see how despite the adversity he has faced, despite the trials he has been through, despite being forced to experience things that we never thought anyone in a developed country would experience, he still manages to maintain an upbeat attitude. He told me that on a regular day, he can be seen smiling and laughing. His unshakeable faith in God is truly inspiring. When I met him, he explained his religious journey to me. After he was incarcerated, he began exploring different religions. He read the Bible, the Quran, and other religious scriptures. He said he took lessons from each of them, but it was Christianity that really “stuck with him”. We talked about the suffering in the world today, and why it happens.

 “Be the change you want to see in the world” – Gandhi

What can be done to save Troy Davis? While many of the doors have closed on him, there is still some hope. The U.S. Supreme Court could reverse their decision. Or the Georgia Supreme Court could reverse theirs. Or the Georgia Board of Paroles. President Bush also has the power to stop the execution. And if Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue puts pressure on the Georgia Board of Paroles, I am almost certain they will yield. The MacPhail family could ask for Troy Davis not to be executed; the State is unlikely to act against the victim’s family. All we need is for one, just one, individual or group of people to open their hearts, to see that Troy Davis is an intelligent, living being, that our country was created on that doctrine of freedom and justice, and that “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. 

Seven out of nine witnesses recanted; that should be enough to stop from making an irreversible mistake. Because of the injustice of the death penalty and of Georgia’s judicial system, a death row inmate inspires people more than the police and judges in our court system. The death penalty is unjust. Georgia is unjust. Together we can fight injustice. If you can say it, you can do it. So listen to what I’m saying: Save Troy Davis! 

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